Every Crutch Removed, Part 1

We be hard-pressed to recall a time in recent history when our society is no more pressure than today.

Financially, politically and morally. Our culture appears to be stretched to the breaking point. Not to mention the deep divide that so prevalent in our times and today on Insight for living Chuck Swindoll will remind us that God often performs his greatest work when we run out of options to set the stage for the dramatic events unfolding in first Samuel Chuck begins by providing helpful context to title today's message every crutch. The bottom drops out of our lives.

It's as if God is removed every single crop. Maybe you've had that experience will rescan first Samuel chapters 18 through 21 today to see you were that very thing happened in David's life, following his success in slaying the giant Goliath. David experienced the most challenging and I would even had the most bewildering times in his entire life is every crutch was removed from him in preparation for this very unusual section of Scripture like you to open your Bibles to first Samuel chapter 18 beginning at verse five. As we survey David's life during this most difficult.

And we will also allow read through random leave the next number of verses. So follow along with me for simulating five begins.

So David went out wherever Saul sent him and prospered and Saul set him over the men of war, and it was pleasing in the sight of all the people and also in the side of Saul's servants. It happened as they were coming when David returned from killing the Philistine that the women came out of all the cities of Israel singing and dancing to meet King Saul with tambourines, with joy and with musical instruments. The women sang as they played and said Saul has slain his thousands, and David his 10,000s.

Then Saul became very angry for this saying this pleased him and he said they have ascribed to David 10,000s, but to me they have ascribed thousands now. What more can he have, but the kingdom Saul looked at David with suspicion. From that day on.

Now it came about on the next day that an evil spirit from God came mightily upon Saul and he raved in the midst of the house while David was playing the harp with his hand. As usual, and a spear was in Saul's hand. Saul hurled the spear, for he thought, I will pin David to the wall, but David escaped from his presence twice. Now Saul was afraid of David for the Lord was with him, but had departed from Saul.

Therefore Saul removed him from his presence and appointed him as his commander of a thousand, and he went out and came in before the people. David was prospering in all his ways for the Lord was with him when Saul saw that he was prospering greatly. He dreaded him.

But all of Israel and Judah loved David and he went out and came in before them, never's 22 then Saul commanded his servants speak to David secretly saying, behold, the king delights in you and all his servants. Love you. Now therefore become the king's son-in-law in verse 25.

Saul then said thus you shall say to David, the king does not desire any dowry except 100 foreskins of the Philistines to take vengeance on the king's enemies.

Now Saul plan to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. Verse 29 then Saul was even more afraid of David. Thus Saul was David's enemy continually not removing the chapter 19 verse one.

Now Saul told Jonathan his son and all his servants to put David to death, but Jonathan, Saul's son greatly delighted in David so Jonathan told David saying Saul my father is seeking to put you to death. Now, therefore please be on guard in the morning and stay in a secret place and hide yourself. I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are and I will speak with my father about you. If I find out anything that I will tell you then, Jonathan spoke well of David to solve his father and said to him, do not let the king sin against his servant David since he is not sinned against you, and since his deeds have been very beneficial to you.

Verse nine. Now there was an evil spirit from the Lord on Saul as he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand and David was playing the harp with his hand.

Saul try to pin David to the wall with the spear but he slipped away out of Saul's presence, so that he stuck the spear into the wall and David fled and escaped that night. Then Saul sent messengers to David's house to watch him in order to put them to death in the morning, but Michael David's wife told him, saying, if you do not save your life tonight. Tomorrow you will be put to death.

So Michael let David down through a window and he went out and slid and escaped now. Chapter 20 verse one then David fled from layoff in Ramah and came and said to Jonathan, what have I done what is my iniquity and what is my sin before your father that he is seeking my life.

He said to him, far from it. You shall not die, behold, my father does nothing either great or small, without disclosing it to me so why should my father hide this thing from me.

It is not so. Yet David vowed again saying your father knows well that I found favor in your sight and he has said do not let Jonathan know this or he will be grieved, but truly is the Lord lives and as your soul lives. There is hardly a step between me and death.

Now drop down to verse 30 then Saul's anger burned against Jonathan and he said to him, use son of a perverse rebellious woman do I not know that you are choosing the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of your mother's nakedness for as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom will be established. Therefore, now send and bring him to me for he must surely die, but Jonathan answered Saul his father said to him, why should he be put to death. What has he done then Saul hurled his spear at the strike him down so Jonathan knew that his father decided to put aside for live designed to help you dig deeper into today's topic go to insight.and now, let's continue Chuck Swindoll's message titled every crutch removed well. We want David once again to minister to our lives in a very special visit as he steps inside, where our heads are in the spirit of God uses him in a special way. I'm encouraged as we have reached the six message in the life of David with the relevance of this man and his experiences in our times, there might be centuries between us and him, but there is no time. There is no difference as far as experiences are concerned, and I don't want to survey 18, 19, 20, and a part of 21 of first Samuel with you, and you might open your Bible to the 18th chapter to start with.

I have sort of a stack of notes that I want to use this guideline to keep on target.

But I really want to talk with you about the very familiar experience of leaning on others. Other people and other things besides leaning on the Lord now that have sort of a cliché ring about it that could cause you to miss the significance of it.

I really don't want you to miss it is a Christian who is not going through a time of having the crutches removed. Some of you are still in the process.

Others you of you just had pretty well run out and they're all gone but God continually works to strip us of the things that we would put in his place and would lean on instead of leaning on him.

He has a way of knowing which one they are out which ones they are and touching them one by one, is were children, we lean on our parents, and that's understandable. As we grow into school and into a higher education we lean on peers or the education itself. We tend to be idealistic in school and we tend to trip out our spinoff into some some ideal gold in our career are our future when we finish such and such and that is sort of the crutch would lean on the whole of some position and then adulthood comes in we began to earn our own way and we lean on our job or would lean on our mate would lean on a friend who might have a lot of bucks or we lean on a person who takes the role of the of an adult parent to us and that's the crutch God knows it and we come to see it more and more, and then when we do turn come to terms with him. We see how he's taking away I've seen parents who didn't begin to lean on the children and I have seen adults who lean on some profession, some financial security. I want to know it's painful to have those crutches removed. David had five of them taken away from you before we look at David's. I want to give you some things about the article are crutches of come up with three things that I find to be true. Number one, they become substitutes for the Lord. Look, hold your place here and look at Deuteronomy 3317 R's are crutches become substitutes for the Lord himself.

3317 of Deuteronomy reads 3327. Excuse me, the eternal God is a dwelling place.

The eternal God is a crutch, a refuge and underneath are the everlasting arms. If you walk with Christ very long you've come across that verse. If you haven't, that might be new input for you and understand that the acceptable crutch that God wants to be in your life is revealed there in verse 27, the everlasting arms. You lean on him. Isaiah 4110 says do not fear. I am with you. Do not be dismayed or confused. I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness, I will uphold you. Isaiah 4110. I will be your crutch as long as you lean on someone else.

I can't be that crutch.

As long as you lean on some other thing I'm not that crutch. My right hand is holding you. They are okay. They become substitutes for the Lord.

Secondly, they keep our focus horizontal when you lean on another person or another thing your focus is across this way, left or right, not up-and-down vertical you again to focus on that other person or you rely on that thing that nice secure account that's in the vault. You can always fall back on that that rich friend that you can go to when you really have a need or whatever.

And those things keep our focus horizontal human crutches paralyze the faith walk.

The third thing they offer only temporary relief.

They offer only temporary relief.

Martin Luther, by the way, was under the gun. A lot of his life. He will in fact his life is in danger. He had been threatened by the prelates of the church.

He was for sure a marked man and his friends wanting to put them over in a place of security got him into a fortress high up on a mountain that overlooked the Rhine River and while Luther was up there. He despaired even though everything around them was secure and he had no one to worry about his needs were taken care of. He wrote his good friend Philip Melanchthon. Philip Melanchthon was my opinion, the genius of the Reformation as far as Luther's concern and and that tie between the two of them was so strong that Luther wrote Philip and he said Philip oh Philip, everything is lost everything is lost. There is no hope. Even up here and on his own. He left the castle. The security of that place in he went right back in the mainstream of life without any security without any certainty.

Knowing that he was in danger.

He wrote the words, a mighty Fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing.

Not not the retreat, hidden away in this in this tone of the mountains, right down in the shoe leather of daily living. The mighty Fortress. The crutches God bulwark never failing that, that's what I want you to see and I admit to you, and I will see from the life of David is a very painful thing to be stripped of the crutches now in first Samuel 18 verse six we begin the familiar story of David with Saul is superior and it happened, as they were coming when David returned from killing the Philistine that the women came out of all the cities of Israel singing and dancing to meet King Saul with tambourines and with joy with musical instruments and the women sang as they played and said Saul has slain his thousands, and David his 10,000s. Saul became very angry for this saying, displeased him.

Verse nine and Saul looked at David with suspicion. From that day on Hg Wells has one of his historical characters is Mr. Polly in his book, the history of Mr. Polly.

He writes this of that strange person he was not so much a human being as he was a Civil War I think of Saul when I read the description Saul became a living Civil War miserable, possessed of an evil spirit of mentally breaking a suspicious, angry, resentful, jealous man. Saul struck out against the most trusted servant in his camp. David, in fact, we read that verse 11 says of verse 10.

The next day an evil spirit came mightily on Saul and he raved in the midst of a house while David was playing the harp with his hands. As usual, and a spear was in Saul's hand and Saul hurled the spear, for he thought, I will pin David to the wall and there's David doing his thing.

And all of a sudden, that's spear comes right over on his side in his life in danger and all of a sudden the bills come due. Suddenly reality strikes discussed may and he's out of his head, says Davis. Saul was afraid of David verse 12 and that interesting. The people who are out to get you are often afraid of you.

An interesting way of coping. The Lord was with David prospered verse 14 verse 15 when Saul saw the David prospered greatly dreaded in putting together any other person.

You throw a spirit many call David kept bouncing back Staying in the Army Doing a job. Saul couldn't put them together. Now please understand that David has done nothing wrong. But God begins to pull the crutches away from David. One by one.

He takes five of them turn the page look at chapter 19 verse eight would go but will go down them rather swiftly get the movement I want you to feel it with the scene here. Here's David's life. He dreaded Saul dreaded him.

Verse eight when the when there was war again. David went out and fought with the Philistines and defeated them with great slaughter so that they fled before him.

Now David's position is an Army officer in the in the Israeli army under Saul's command. David is an officer over a Battalion or perhaps a division of men and he went out, did the Philistine battle and he defeated them.

Verse nine. There was this evil spirit on Saul as he was sitting in his house, his spear in his hand and David was playing the harp and Saul tried to pin David to the wall is the second time, but he slipped away out of Saul's presence, so that he struck the spirit of the wall and David led an escape that night that marked the words David fled and escaped in a readable time after time tonight. David realized first of all, he had lost the crutch of a good position. That's the first thing he lost. He had been brought into the Army. He had proven himself a heroic faithful soldier and now it's all gone and in the fire service fear and he's gone and he was never again is in Saul's army. Some of you have lost your position. Some of you are being threatened with the loss of a good position. It's a crutch upon which you have been leaning.

Perhaps in God's as you lean on me, so he escaped and fled. Now he fled to his home with his wife that would dangle her before you a couple of Sunday nights.

I want to go back and show you about his wife go to the chapter before hand. Chapter 18 verse 20. Her name is Michael Michaels verse 20 chapter 18 Saul's daughter loved David when they told Saul, the thing was agreeable to him. Saul thought I would give her to him that she may become a snare to them. That was nice of Saul was allowed to give her I'd give him my daughter that the Berkeley Bible says that she might be let her be his undoing. I can handle this girl and I'll give it hurt to David and that'll be his undoing and David marries Michael no notice in chapter 19 the same girl, Michael, his wife, he comes home to her. This is the next crutch that God removes his wife noticed that he fled of escape that night. Chapter verse 10 closes 1910 11 Saul sent messengers to David's house to watch him in on the putting to death in the morning, but Michael David's wife told him, saying, if you do not save your life tonight. Tomorrow will be put to death. Now you think that's a very faithful expression and it was so far so Michael let David down through a window and he went out to hear the words and he fled escaped. We got a fugitive running from the authority. He is fleeing and he is escaping to get away from Saul. Notice what happened.

Saul said to Michael why you see me like this. Let my enemy go so that he is escaped. I had to. Michael replied he threatened to kill me if I didn't open so was Weiss walked away from. She deceived him and turned Saul further against in this study Chuck Swindoll's siding five different crutches that God removed from David's life.

It caused him to hit rock bottom, but please keep listening to this message because Chuck will describe how God replaced David's crutches with something far better to lean on. This is insight for living, Chuck titled today's message. Every crutch removed to learn more about this ministry.

Be sure to visit us online@insightworld.org and it's possible your listening right now and thinking about the reliance you've developed on temporary crutches. Maybe it's a relationship or a dream that's become shaky at insight for living. We make it our mission to point people to Christ and his word, which is the only unshakable support we have. It wasn't long ago we heard from a gentleman who said Chuck I'm 51 years old and I spent nearly half of my life in the Texas prison system. I was released from prison in September 2020 for the last two years of my incarceration. I was a faithful listener to insight for living. I couldn't wait for the broadcast daily at 8 AM and would usually listen again in the evening at 730. God put a hunger for his word in my heart and I'm so grateful for this ministry and still listen today.

I am a life that was changed well. We love hearing stories of redemption and let me add, thank you for supporting insight for living as well.

These daily programs are made possible because friends like you who value Chuck's teaching step forward and give along those lines were hoping you'll join us in making more of these redemptive stories possible. Here's Chuck if you're in the business world. You likely have some idea what it means to close the books on a financial year well at Insight for living, our nonprofit organization will close the financial year on June 30. The day is coming soon. Fiscal year end. We call it yes it's an accounting term, a mile marker and annual turning point for bookkeepers and accountants and ministries like ours at Insight for living is far more than any of those business terms. We set financial goals for June 30 that need to be met. That's the business part but this is not a business you know this. It's a ministry and so what I hear the deadline on June 30 I think about people, men and women like you folks who rely on us to dispense and declare the truth of God's word day in and day out. Sure we run insight for living like an efficient business behind-the-scenes because we know that's prudent.

That's why it's we have a wonderful staff to help us do that.

But we have never lost sight of those we read and the one we serve. So now cannot count on you to help us. Your generous donation today will not only care for the business side of this ministry far more important.

Your donation will help us reach more people with insight for living today's the day I'm coming how to respond to Chuck Swindoll if you're listening in the United States, call 800-772-8888.

That's 807 seven 288 or you can simply give a gift online@insight.org/donate that's tomorrow on insight for living. The preceding message.

Every crutch removed was copyrighted in 1977, 1988, 1997 and 2009 and the sound recording was copyrighted 2009 by Charles R. Swindoll. All rights are reserved worldwide. Application of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited